Me

Not me, me.  The circled me on the postcard, got me? 

Written on the back, "Hi Harriet, Just came down for weekend.  Had a nice time.  See you soon.  Aug  P.S. look at the other side."  Anyway, I guess "Miss Harriet Sietjer, 37-48th St., Weehawken,  N.J."  was used to less than scintillating communication with Aug, possibly short for August.  Postmarked, "WILDWOOD N.J. JUL 30 6 A.M. 1951." 

I don't think that guy is actually me,  no not me, but not the me that is Aug. 

Green River, Wyoming

I've had this postcard for a very long time.  I can't remember where, when or why I bought it.  It is, however, a reminder that the government once built it's post offices to last.  It's now the Sweetwater County Historical Museum. 

The Singer Building

Perhaps it's my age.  Perhaps it's my mother making clothes for the family on her sewing machine.  For whatever reason, say Singer and I think of the sewing machine company.

The Singer Building in New York City was designed by architect Ernest Flagg.  It was completed in 1908 and for two years at, 47 stories and 612 feet high, was the tallest building in the world.  The Singer Building has another interesting distinction.  In 1967 it became the tallest building to be torn down.  It seems it's extraordinarily difficult to raze really tall building, which might explain why there are so many old, ugly skyscrapers in cities all over the planet.  (Perhaps, they'll be our version of the great pyramids.)  Before the destruction of the  twin towers of The World Trade Center, the Singer Building remained  the tallest building razed and is still the tallest to be razed voluntarily.

Printed on the back, "SINGER BUILDING and part of the financial district, New York City.  Singer Building located on the corner of Broadway and Liberty Streets is 47 stories high rising to a total height of 612 feet.  In it are 5,000 tenants who are carried to their offices by 16 Otis traction elevators.  The foundations consist of 36 caissons sunk to bedrock 92 feet below the surface.  Built by the Singer Mfg. Co."  This card was published by The Manhattan Post Card Company and credits Irving Underhill as the photographer.  Irving Underhill was a prominent commercial photographer in New York City specializing in urban and marine landscapes.  He was born in 1872 and died in 1960.  Underhill provided photographs for postcards and book and magazine illustrations.

An Ordinary Seaman

Written on the back, "Is"  Israel, Isaac, some other name?  Around the World War 1 era would be my guess.

Coasting on the Steamer

Almost certainly not on the Dorothy Bradford.  Written on the back of the top photo, "Ray & Gladys on board boat going to New Haven, Conn.  June 5, 1932."  The second photo, "Ray & Gladys on Steamer coming home from New Haven, Conn.  June 5, 1932."  We don't know what Ray and Gladys were doing on their day trip to New Haven, but they look like they had fun.  Even durung the great depression life went on.

The S.S. Dorothy Bradford

I live in Los Angeles and I've always wondered why ships aren't a regular part of local transit.  We've got ferries to Catalina Island, but why not commuter service between Santa Monica and south bay with stops in places like Long Beach and Redondo.   Oh well, just another suggestion to be ignored.

So, the S.S. Dorothy Bradford was built by Neafie & Levy of Philadelphia, PA.  She was built in 1889 for the Cape Cod Steamship Company and was originally named the S.S. Charlotte.  I couldn't find anything on when the name change occurred.   The Cape Cod Steamship Co. went out of business in 1937, and The Dorothy Bradford was sold for scrap after years of servicing the Provincetown route on Cape Cod.  I couldn't find what the other ports on the route were but Boston seems like a good bet as well as the off shore islands. 

This card was published by H.A. Dickerman and Son of Taunton, Massachusetts.  There are a lot of postcard publishers out there and it's not always possible to find out any information about individual  companies, but I did find a bit about H.A. Dickerman.  They were in business from 1907 to 1936.  They specialized in scenics and dominated the Cape Cod market.  There's a postmark on the back, "PROVINCETOWN MASS SEP 5 2 PM 1922"  It was mailed to "James Morris 23 something or other street," (The writer makes their M's, N's, W's and U's all alike.)  "Framingham, Mass."  No message.

Dorothy Bradford was the wife of Puritan William Bradford the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.  She fell off the Mayflower and was the first European to drown in New England.   As accomplishments go, not a very notable one.

Inabelle and the Baby

I'm fairly certain that the very faded writing on the baby photograph reads "My Nephew."  What, no baby seat! 

Growing Up In Poverty

I know what it's like, though the poverty I lived in was a bit more genteel than this.  It's not a  pleasant way to grow up.  I hit the color restoration setting for the bottom shot for something a bit closer to what the image looked like before the inevitable color shift started.

The Cure House

The Kurhaus at Cadmario, Switzerland is still there and still in business.  Unfortunately, I was unable to find out when it was built.  There's scaffolding and a date on this print.  12-IV-25, the 12th of April, 1925.  Repairs or construction, I wasn't able to determine.  Visiting the spa is fairly expensive now, but in 1925?  I suspect it wasn't cheap then, either, as the wealthy of Europe took the waters to cure what ailed them, and after the horrors of World War 1 and the Spanish Flu epidemic, I suspect people felt in need of a curative rest.

Three Ladies, One Guy on a Bench

I think the cloche hats date this to the 1920's.  I bought this photo here, in California, but going by the trees and flat landscape I'd bet on the mid-west.  During the great depression hundreds of thousands of people made the trek to the west coast.  I can't help but wonder if this photo and many of the others I find here came to L.A. via the back of an overloaded car driven by a formally middle class family.

The Post War European Trip Collection-Souvenir Snapshots 8

The last of Gloria Lee's souvenir photos, but not the last of this collection.  Click on The Post War European Trip Collection for more.

The Post War European Trip Collection-Souvenir Snapshots 7

Top and bottom, still in Paris.  The rest seem to be some sort of country estate.  Some sort of royal palace?  Click on The Post war European Trip Collection in labels for more good stuff.

The Post War European Trip Collection-Souvenir Snapshots 6

More from Paris and some unknown locations.  Click on The Post War European Trip Collection, etc., etc., etc.

The Post War European Trip Collection-Souvenir Snapshots 5

Gloria Lee's continued travels.  The first three photos keep us in Paris, image number four, perhaps, and the number five isn't.  My first thought was somewhere on the Riviera, but then I remembered that she and her tour group spent a lot of time in Switzerland, a country with a fair number of really large lakes. 

Click on The Post war European in Collection in labels, well you guys have figured that one out by now.

The Post War European Trip Collection-Souvenir Snapshots 4

Gloria Lee got around.  I'm fairly certain the top photo is from Paris, but clearly some of these are from other locations. 

Click on The Post War European Collection to see more.

The Postwar European Trip Collection-Souvenir Snapshots 3

I think all of these commercially produced photos are from Paris.  It's interesting to note that the cars seen in the bottom photo look like there all from the twenties or teens.  Since Gloria Lee bought these pictures in 1948 it's clear that these have been on sale for decades. 

Click on The Post War European Trip Collection in labels for more.

The Post War European Trip Collection-Souvenir Snapshots 2

I've got four collections that I've started that I've yet to fully post, so I think it's about time to go back to The Post War European Trip Collection.-And, of course click on that in labels to see more images, and read about Gloria Lee Bigewet, a teenage tourist from St. Louis, Missouri, and her group's trip to Europe after World War 2.  That's were you'll find, among other things, Souvenir Snapshots part 1.

Oklahoma Is OK

For someone who lives in Los Angeles and works in the film industry, albeit at a very low level, I have almost no pictures of celebrities.  So, from Hollywood via Oklahoma, "Maverick James Garner Cherokee Strip Parade Sept. 17, 1960." 

So, no need to write a lot about Garner.  I'm assuming most people know that he was a successful actor in both the movies and television.  He was in some of my favorite films, The Great Escape, Duel at Diablo, Victor Victoria, and one of my all time favorites, The Americanization of Emily.  Emily and Victor Victoria also stared another favorite, Julie Andrews.  Garner was born in Norman, Oklahoma, which explains why he was at the Cherokee Strip Parade at Enid.